In a first of its kind initiative, the Tamil Nadu police have joined hands with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Anna University here to enhance technology applications in policing to world-class standards.
The police department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Anna University for technology collaboration and knowledge transfer.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, has also been roped in to evaluate the scale of modernisation in the force and devise a road map to modernise policing.
According to police sources, Director-General of Police K. Ramanujam and Anna University Vice-Chancellor M. Rajaram signed the MoU at the police headquarters recently. Besides training officers and staff of the police department in relevant areas of engineering and technology, the university will design and develop technological projects for the force.
The police will work with scientists in developing advanced tools for field policing. Deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), developed by the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) for surveillance, will be among the first projects to be implemented.
“The partnership will be of mutual benefit. While the police will derive the best of technology from Anna University, which is among the premier institutions in the country, the university will also understand the application of scientific tools in modern policing,” a senior police officer said.
The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned Rs. 25 lakh to conduct an in-depth study to evaluate the status of application of technology in the police force.
“The IIT-M has agreed, in principle, to assess and give a technology road map. This will also lead to a long-term partnership between the police and IIT-M,” he said.
Closed User GroupThe police were also launching the biggest Closed User Group (CUG) mobile phone communication that would cover 1.1 lakh personnel and their family members.
The facility would make all official voice communication free of cost, the sources added.
